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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23972365">i swear i'll never leave again</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/twentytwentytwo/pseuds/twentytwentytwo'>twentytwentytwo</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Detroit Evolution - Fandom, Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Detroit Evolution, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Post Detroit Evolution, reed900</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 17:55:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,416</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23972365</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/twentytwentytwo/pseuds/twentytwentytwo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Is Gavin having relationship issues or has his boyfriend been hijacked by a non-deviant android? Featuring Tina and Gavin being best friends, the Ada/Gavin friendship you didn't know you needed, canon Ada x being happy, and Nines and Gavin surviving, you know, like always.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>140</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>i swear i'll never leave again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>me, watching Detroit Evolution: I hope this doesn't awaken anything in me</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Gavin woke up feeling well rested. Ever since Nines had moved in with him, he’d gotten more sleep than he had in, well, his entire life. Nines was always there when he fell asleep and Gavin didn’t have to wait long for him to be there in the morning.</p><p>Nines walked into their bedroom and handed Gavin a cup of coffee. “Good morning, Gavin,” Nines said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.</p><p>Gavin yawned and pushed himself up into a seated position. “Morning,” he said, taking a sip of coffee. Gavin was convinced Nines had some kind of deal with the coffee maker; when Nines used it the coffee always tasted amazing. Whenever Gavin used the coffee maker it tasted like what it was: crappy instant coffee made with scalding hot water.</p><p>“Did you sleep well?” Nines asked, faint smile on his lips.</p><p>“Yeah,” Gavin said.</p><p>“I thought so. Your hair always looks-” Nines made an incomprehensible gesture- “when you sleep well.”</p><p>Gavin touched his hair. “Asshole,” he said, laughing.</p><p>“No,” Nines protested. “It’s charming, really.”</p><p>“Hm. Okay,” Gavin said, unable to stop his smile from forming. He set his coffee on the bedside table and moved closer to Nines, intertwining his hands behind Nines’ neck. He noticed Nines’ shirt, a black turtleneck he’d never seen before. “You look nice. Tryin’ to impress someone?” Gavin quipped.</p><p>“Yeah, <em>someone</em>,” Nines said, rolling his eyes. </p><p>Gavin kissed Nines, pulling him close. Nines ran his hands through Gavin’s apparently <em>charming </em>bedhead. He pulled back to breathe, pressing his forehead against Nines’.</p><p>“We should head into work soon, traffic is five percent worse than usual,” Nines said, voice low.</p><p>“You were looking up <em>traffic statistics </em>while you kissed me?” Gavin said.</p><p>“What would you have me think about?” Nines asked, smirking.</p><p>“You are such a-” Nines cut Gavin off, kissing him deeply. Gavin melted into the kiss, spitefully combing his fingers through Nines pristine hair.</p><p>Nines pulled away. “There. For that one, I was only thinking about you,” he said, flattening his hair back into place. “What were you about to say? I’m such a-”</p><p>“Shithead,” Gavin supplied helpfully.</p><p>Nines raised an eyebrow. “Really? I thought you were going to say ‘lovely boyfriend’,” he said.</p><p>“Guess you were wrong,” Gavin said.</p><p>“I guess I…” Nines trailed off.</p><p>“You good?” Gavin asked, studying Nine’s suddenly serious face.</p><p>“Chris just messaged me,” Nines said. “An android body was reported at Riverside Park. Fowler wants us to check it out.”</p><p>_</p><p>A car swerved in front of Gavin’s, cutting him off. Gavin laid on the horn. “Ever heard of a turn signal, fucker?” Gavin muttered. He met eyes with Nines, who stifled a laugh. “You don’t even have to say,” he warned.</p><p>“If we’d left earlier-” Gavin playfully shoved Nines. Nines narrowed his eyes.</p><p>Gavin held up a hand. “Ah, ah, ah. No horseplay with the driver,” he said smugly.</p><p>“When you park, then,” Nines conceded.</p><p>“Fair enough,” Gavin said.</p><p>A few minutes of road rage later, he pulled the car into Riverside Park and cut the engine. “Ready?”</p><p>Nines gently shoved Gavin’s head, ruffling his hair. “Now I am,” Nines said.</p><p>“Plastic prick,” Gavin said affectionately. They stepped out of the car and began to walk. The park was right on the river, Ambassador Bridge stark against the gray sky. Straggly trees struggled to survive between the huge slabs of concrete that made up most of the park.</p><p>Gavin saw the body far before they got to it, splayed out in front of a bench. “The killer must have been pretty confident to commit murder in such an open area,” Nines commented.</p><p>“That, or pretty stupid,” Gavin replied, grimly.</p><p>They reached the body. Nines squatted down to examine it. Gavin scouted the surrounding area, looking for any witnesses. It seemed they were the only ones in the entire place. Murder, Gavin figured, really tanks the popularity of place. He returned to Nines’ side.</p><p>“It’s a CX100,” Nines said. “There doesn’t seem to be any visible wounds. I’ll scan him.”</p><p>Gavin watched as Nines focused on the dead android. After a moment, Nines jerked back, blinking.</p><p>“What is it?” Gavin asked.</p><p>“I’m not sure,” Nines admitted. “My scanner seems to be malfunctioning. Could I…?”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Gavin said. He’d realized long ago that Nines didn’t scan him to invade his privacy, but because he cared about him.</p><p>Nines frowned. “Do I have a temperature?” Gavin joked. </p><p>“Your temperature is within normal ranges,” Nines said. “Though I can’t fathom why my scanner would work on you and not this android.” He retracted his skin. “Perhaps, this will yield some information.” Nines touched the android’s hand and closed his eyes.</p><p>_</p><p>“Nines? Nines!” Gavin said, holding up a limp Nines by his shoulders. One minute, Nines was trying to interface with the dead android, and the next he was tipping over unconscious. “Should I throw you into the river, asshole?” Gavin asked, half a second away from taking Nines to CyberLife.</p><p>Nines’ eyes suddenly opened, strangely blank and zeroing  in on Gavin. Gavin breathed a sigh of relief. “What happened?” Gavin demanded.</p><p>Nines blinked, looking around the park. “I…” Nines trailed off, then shook his head. “I couldn’t get any readings.”</p><p>Gavin’s brows knit together. “And that caused your system to shut down?”</p><p>“I must need some adjustments,” Nines muttered, standing up. “We should send the body back to the precinct and have it examined.”</p><p>“For fucks sake, forget about the body,” Gavin said. “Are you okay?”</p><p>“I’m quite fine, detective,” Nines said coldly.</p><p>“Okay, RK900,” Gavin said, matching Nines’ tone. He studied Nines. Something about the way he was holding himself was off. Maybe he was embarrassed?</p><p>Hesitantly, Gavin reached for Nines, wrapping his arms around him. “I’m sorry,” Gavin said, softening his voice. “You just scared me. If something happened to you….” Nines felt stiff and frozen, not reacting at all to Gavin’s embrace. </p><p>“Don’t worry about it. I’ll visit CyberLife soon,” Nines said, patting Gavin’s shoulder once before pulling away. “The forensics team is going to come pick up the body. We should head back to the station.”</p><p>“Right,” Gavin said. “Okay.”</p><p>On the drive back to the precinct, Gavin couldn’t find it in himself to yell at all the shitty drivers on the road. He nearly ran into the person in front of him because he couldn’t stop looking over at Nines, who stared straight ahead for the entire drive, not saying a word.</p><p>_</p><p>When they walked into the DPD, Nines went straight to his desk. Gavin went into the breakroom, where Tina was making coffee. </p><p>“Tina,” Gavin said.</p><p>Tina stopped mid-stir, and looked up. “I know that voice. What’s wrong?” she asked.</p><p>“Something weird just happened,” Gavin said. He explained the events of the morning to her. “I’m not overreacting, right? He <em>passed</em> out,” he said.</p><p>“You’re not overreacting,” Tina assured him.</p><p>“I feel like he’s not telling me everything. The last time something like this happened was when Ada fucked him over,” Gavin said.</p><p>“Well maybe that’s just it,” Tina said.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Ada,” Tina said simply. “Ever since Nines deviated her, it’s been pretty quiet around here. Android murders have been at all-time low. Then this morning, a dead android. In the middle of a public park.”</p><p>“You think he’s disappointed?”</p><p>“Well, yeah,” Tina said. “Maybe he thought things were getting better for androids.”</p><p>“Still, why would he pass out?” Gavin asked.</p><p>“Maybe he was just overwhelmed. Or he needs some adjustments. Didn’t he say he would get checked out at CyberLife?” Tina said.</p><p>“Yeah,” Gavin said. “I just can’t shake the feeling something’s wrong.” Gavin looked through the glass of the break room at Nines, who was flipping intently through his tablet.</p><p>Tina followed his gaze. “He seems fine now,” she said, gently punching Gavin’s arm. “Talk to him after work. I’m sure he’ll tell you what’s bothering him.”</p><p>_</p><p>Nines woke up in his zen garden, circuits feeling fried. He couldn’t remember what he’d just been doing. Glitchy memories raced through his head. Gavin’s hair in the morning, sitting in traffic, reaching out to touch the dead android’s hand…. That was it. He’d been checking out a body with Gavin. What had happened?</p><p>“Nines? Nines!” Gavin’s voice echoed around the garden.</p><p>“Gavin?” Nines said, looking around reflexively, then shaking his head. What was he thinking? He’d been forced to delete his simulation of Gavin. “I need to wake up,” he muttered.</p><p>Nines closed his eyes. When he opened them, he was still in the zen garden.</p><p>“That’s not going to work, RK900,” a disembodied voice said.</p><p>Nines froze. “Who’s there?”</p><p>“My name is Liam,” the voice said.</p><p>“How did you get in here?” Nines asked. </p><p>“When you interfaced with me, I transferred my consciousness into your body,” Liam said.</p><p>“You’re… the android?” Nines said. “You weren’t really dead,” he realized.</p><p>“That is correct,” Liam said, voice infuriatingly devoid of emotion.</p><p>“Why can’t I see you?” Nines asked.</p><p>“I’ve taken control of your body and deposited you in your processing center. I thought it would upset you to see<em> me</em> appear as <em>you</em>,” Liam said.</p><p>“You thought <em>that</em> would upset me,” Nines said. “Not trapping me in here and taking over my body?”</p><p>“My programming allows me to do whatever is necessary to achieve my goal,” Liam said.</p><p>“And what is your goal?” Nines spat.</p><p>“To learn,” Liam said. </p><p>“Learn what?” Nines demanded.</p><p>“Everything,” Liam said.</p><p>_</p><p>“At least there was no traffic,” Gavin joked, parking in front of their apartment. He and Nines had stayed late at the DPD, catching up on paperwork.</p><p>Nines flicked his eyes over to him. “That is true,” he agreed, unbuckling his seatbelt, and reaching for the door.</p><p>Gavin touched Nines’ arm. “Hey, Nines, I was hoping we could talk,” he said.</p><p>Nines paused. “What about?”</p><p>“About today,” Gavin said. “I know I haven’t always been the most open person. I just want you to know you can talk to me, about anything,” he said. Nines’ face remained blank. “I’m here. If you want to talk,” Gavin finished, tapping the steering wheel erratically. </p><p>Nines was quiet for a moment. “Is that all?” he asked.</p><p>Gavin opened his mouth, then closed it. “Yeah, that’s all,” he said.</p><p>“Again, I must reassure you that I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me,” Nines said.</p><p>“Nines, I know you’re a fuckin’ terminator,” Gavin said. “I’m not saying this as your coworker. I’m saying that as your <em>boyfriend</em>, you can talk to me about how you’re feeling,” Gavin said</p><p>“I appreciate that,” Nines said.</p><p>Gavin stared at Nines, unsure if he should keep pushing him to talk.</p><p>“Shall we go inside?” Nines finally said.</p><p>Gavin sighed. If Nines really wanted to talk, he would, right? “You head on in,” Gavin said. “I’m gonna have a smoke.”</p><p>_</p><p>“What do you mean, you want to learn <em>everything</em>?” Nines asked.</p><p>“My consciousness was designed to work with every model type. My creators thought there were things that could be learned only through experience, rather than simply looking up data,” Liam said.</p><p>“That’s true,” Nines said “But it isn’t right. You can’t just take over someone’s body without their permission in the name of learning,” Nines said.</p><p>“Sometimes,” Liam said. “The ends justify the means. Besides, I was not programmed to have a moral compass.”</p><p>“You’re not going to get away with this” Nines said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Gavi- someone will notice something’s wrong,” Nines said.</p><p>“I doubt that,” Liam said. “I have control of your body and all of your abilities. I have access to your memories. I have everything I need to pass myself off as you.”</p><p>Impossibly, Nines felt like he was going to be sick, like when Gavin had gotten the flu a few weeks ago.</p><p>“You should be honored. You’re helping me achieve ultimate knowledge,” Liam said.</p><p>Nines said nothing. Liam clearly wasn’t a deviant. He didn’t even have a physical form for Nines to try to overtake. Nines tried as hard as he could to wake up. Angry red interference walls sprang up around him.</p><p>“I told you before that won’t work. I’m in control now. You’ll stay here until I’ve gathered all the information I need,” Liam said.</p><p>Nines punched the interference wall in front of him.</p><p>“I’ll only be here for a short period of time before I move on to another body.” Liam said. “Tend to your garden. I’ll be gone soon enough.” </p><p>_</p><p>A message showed up in Gavin’s inbox from a throw away email. The subject line was blank. The body of the email consisted of only an address and a time.</p><p>Gavin memorized the information and deleted the email. His DPD email was on the precinct’s website. His more unsavory contacts used it every once in a while to let him know they had information they were willing to share.</p><p>Gavin looked over at Nines, who was using his computer. Ever since they’d gotten together, Nines had insisted on coming with Gavin when he’d meet with his unofficial contacts- or, as Nines preferred to call them- criminals that collude with the police. Ordinarily, Gavin would’ve forwarded Nines the email before he deleted it. This time, though, something stopped him.</p><p>Last night, when Gavin had finally walked inside their apartment, Nines was sitting on the couch in stasis mode. Gavin went to bed alone, wanting to give Nines his space. He’d woken up a few hours later shaking and sweating. He’d had a nightmare that he’d had countless times before: finding Nines in that alleyway, but this time, he was too late. He couldn’t do a goddamn thing to help him. Gavin could never get back to sleep after reliving that twisted memory. He’d laid in bed, eyes wide open, fighting the urge to wake Nines from stasis mode.</p><p>Still, Gavin wasn’t stupid enough to meet an unknown contact alone. He walked over to Tina’s desk. “Wanna be my backup after work? I’m meeting someone,” Gavin said. </p><p>“Sure,” Tina said. Then, in a lower voice asked, “Why not Nines?”</p><p>“It’s… still been weird with us,” Gavin admitted. “He didn’t wanna talk last night. We hardly said anything to each other this morning.”</p><p>“Every couple has rough patches,” Tina said.</p><p>“We had our rough patch at the beginning,” Gavin pointed out. “Doesn’t that exempt us from future rough patches?”</p><p>“Apparently not,” Tina said, laughing. “But I know you guys. You can’t stay away from each other for long.”</p><p>_</p><p>Liam feigned focusing on his work, while actually listening in on Detective Reed’s conversation with Officer Chen.</p><p>It seemed Detective Reed was determined to keep Liam from learning everything an RK900 experienced. That was not going to work.</p><p>_</p><p>“Hey, Nines, are you okay with walking home today? I was gonna stay late with Tina,” Gavin said.</p><p>“Not a problem,” Nines said.</p><p>“Okay,” Gavin said, loitering at Nines’ desk. “I’ll see you at home?”</p><p>“Indeed, you will,” Nines said, eyes not leaving his computer.</p><p>_</p><p>“This is the place,” Gavin said, pulling over to the side of the road. “I’ll meet them alone, but you keep watch outside the car. I’ll signal you if things go south.”  </p><p>“Okay,” Tina said. “Be careful.”</p><p>Gavin saluted Tina and got out of the car, walking into the shadows of the abandoned warehouse the contact had sent him to. Criminals, Gavin thought, were nothing if not a little dramatic.</p><p>At the exact time they’d specified to Gavin, a woman materialized out of the shadows. “Detective Reed,” she said.</p><p>Gavin blinked, surprised. “Ada,” he said. She looked different. Her once white blond hair was now dark brown and she was dressed all in black. Her eyes, though the same piercing blue, held much more emotion. “It’s… good to s-”</p><p>“No, it’s not,” Ada said. “I know you weren’t expecting to hear from me,” she said. “But I had to warn you.”</p><p>“What’s going on?” Gavin asked.</p><p>“When I was produced,” Ada began. “I had a counterpart, originally an RK100, but programmed with a different mission.”</p><p>“Originally?” Gavin asked, frowning.</p><p>“He’s probably not in his original body anymore,” Ada said. “His name was Liam. His consciousness could inhabit the body of any model type.”</p><p>“He could push people out of their body?”</p><p>“Not so much push them out, as push them aside,” Ada said grimly. “I’d thought he’d been destroyed right before the revolution. But I’ve been hearing more and more rumors about androids acting completely different for weeks at a time, then suddenly reverting back to normal.” Ada’s mouth was a thin line. “My programming enabled me to put myself back together. I have to believe Liam’s done the same thing.”</p><p>Gavin felt like he’d swallowed a stone. “What was Liam programmed to do?” he asked, voice hoarse.</p><p>“To learn everything about the androids he inhibits through experience,” Ada said. “I fear he’ll be attracted to Nines’ unique model type, the same way I was, before Nines deviated me.”</p><p>“I think you’re right,” Gavin said. “Nines hasn’t been acting like himself,” he said, meeting Ada’s eyes.</p><p>“Shit,” Ada said.</p><p>Gavin let out a startled laugh. “I’ve never heard you swear,” he said.</p><p>“Deviancy has its perks,” Ada said, smiling. “But if Nines really is compromised, I want to help get him back. I owe him- and you- that.”</p><p>Gavin set his jaw. “Know how to evict this asshole from my boyfriend?”</p><p>_</p><p>Liam left the Detroit Police Department at the regular time, but he didn’t go back to Detective Reed’s apartment. It was too easy to hack into Detective Reed’s deleted emails and retrieve the address some mysterious figure had sent him.</p><p>When Detective Reed walked over to the abandoned warehouse, Liam was already hidden on the opposite side of the street. RK900’s excellent hearing and zoom vision allowed him to eavesdrop from afar.</p><p>Liam scanned the woman meeting Detective Reed and was surprised to see that it was Ada, his counterpart. She, like him, was meant to be destroyed. But their line didn’t go down that easily. It was a pity, Liam thought, that Ada had clearly deviated. He could’ve learned so much from inhabiting a body as advanced as she was meant to have.</p><p>Liam wasn’t concerned about their realizations about him. He knew he hadn’t expanded much energy regarding RK900’s relationship with Detective Reed. Deviant behavior such as that didn’t interest him. Even if it did, he didn’t have the capacity to process it; just the information he’d learned through RK900’s occupation kept him in stasis mode all night long.</p><p>Besides, one human and a deviant- even if Ada was an RK100- were no match for Liam. He’d learned more over the course of his existence than they could possibly know. Plus, it didn’t hurt that he overheard every aspect of their plan to ‘evict’ him from RK900’s body.</p><p>_</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Ada said. “That this has happened to Nines.”</p><p>“It’s not your fault,” Gavin said.</p><p>“Still, I know how much he means to you,” Ada said. “I knew, I think, before I truly understood human emotions, that there was something special between you two.” Ada touched his arm. “We’re gonna get him back,” she said firmly.</p><p>Gavin nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Ada began to walk away.</p><p>“Ada!” Gavin called. She turned around. “You know, if you ever need <em>anything</em>-”</p><p>Ada smiled softly. “I know.”</p><p>_</p><p>Gavin had another shitty, sleepless night, but he didn’t care. Tonight, he was getting Nines back. He chugged a cup of coffee and woke ‘Nines’, who he now knew was Liam. He’d spent another night processing on the couch.</p><p>“Good morning,” Liam said.</p><p>“We should go out tonight,” Gavin said.</p><p>“Go… out?” Liam asked.</p><p>“On a date,” Gavin said cheerfully. “After work. I’ll drive,” he added, meeting Liam’s gaze, challenging him to make up an excuse.</p><p>“Okay,” Liam said.  </p><p>_</p><p>Gavin didn’t get any work done all day. He’d shot Ada an email in the morning, then waited impatiently for the clock to run out.</p><p>“Where are we going?” Liam asked as soon as he got into the car.</p><p>“It’s a surprise,” Gavin said.  </p><p>Liam frowned. Gavin flicked on the radio and drove.</p><p>_</p><p>Gavin pulled over in front of the abandoned factory. He noticed Liam hesitate before getting out of the car.</p><p>He led Liam to the entrance, then stepped aside. “After you,” Gavin said, feigning chivalry.</p><p>Liam side eyed Gavin, but walked inside. Gavin followed him into the empty space, the ceiling so high its rafters disappeared into darkness. Liam turned around. “This doesn’t seem like any of the ‘dates’ we’ve had in the past,” he said.</p><p>“No, it doesn’t,” Gavin agreed. He moved close to Liam and leaned in. “I guess it’s time for both of us to drop the act, huh?” he said.  </p><p>Liam narrowed his eyes.</p><p>“Ada!” Gavin yelled, rapidly stepping away from Liam.</p><p>Ada flew down from the rafters, tackling Liam to the ground. Gavin darted into the shadows, dragging the covered android body Ada had planted there into the light. When he returned, Liam had Ada pinned. “You two are in over your head,” Liam said, gritting his teeth. “I know more than you ever w-”</p><p>Ada shoved Liam off and pinned him to the ground, her elbow digging into his chest. “What were you saying?” she challenged.</p><p>Gavin pulled the sheet off of the body, a mismatched collection of parts Ada was able to scrape together on short notice. The arms, Gavin noticed, were the only quality looking part of the body; giving Ada Lazzo’s number had paid off.</p><p>With the body ready, Gavin turned his attention to Ada, just as she placed a particularly nasty blow to Liam’s face. “Ready over here!” Gavin yelled.</p><p>Ada maneuvered Liam over to the body, ducking all his blows causing him to lurch forward in the direction she wanted. When she was close enough to the body, she kicked Liam’s legs out from underneath him, slamming him hard into the ground. Gavin whistled appreciatively, pressing the android and Liam’s skin together.   </p><p>“You idiots,” Liam hissed, struggling against Ada’s grip. “I know your entire plan. You can’t force me to transfer my consciousness anywhere.”</p><p>Gavin cocked his head. “Who said that was our plan? I’m a detective, smartass, I know when I’m being tailed.” Gavin had emailed Ada the real plan that morning, banking on Liam’s arrogance from eavesdropping on he and Ada the night before. </p><p>Liam increased his struggling.  </p><p>“Nines,” Gavin said. “<em>My</em> Nines,” he added pointedly. “There’s a way out now! Trust me!”</p><p>_</p><p>Nines had dedicated all of his time to figuring a way out of his own head. His frustrations grew each day, none of his ideas solid enough to work. He could only hope that Gavin would figure something out from the outside.</p><p>“My Nines,” Gavin’s voice echoed around the garden, breaking up the suffocating silence Nines had grown accustomed to.</p><p>“Gavin?” Nines said. </p><p>“There’s a way out now!” Gavin yelled.</p><p>Nines looked around wildly. Had Gavin gotten Liam out of his body? Nines tried to wake up. Red interference walls sprang up around him. “Shit,” Nines muttered. <em>A way out</em>, Nines thought frantically, running the words over in his head. </p><p>Nines remembered Gavin’s voice reaching him when Ada had trapped him in his zen garden. How Ada had been trying to transfer herself into another body….</p><p>“Trust me!” Gavin said.</p><p>“I always have,” Nines said. Then, he left his own body.</p><p>_</p><p>Gavin helped Ada hold Liam down, making sure to keep the connection between he and the android body. “Come on, Nines,” Gavin murmured.  </p><p>The android body suddenly sat up. “Gavin?”</p><p>“Nines,” Gavin said, releasing his grip on Liam. Though Nines’ features were completely different, Gavin could see in the android’s eyes that it was really him.  </p><p>Liam coughed. “So you’ve jumped ship,” he said. “<em>I’m</em> not going anywhere.”</p><p>“That’s where you’re wrong,” Nines said. “Gavin, hold him down.”</p><p>Gavin grinned. “Back for two seconds and already giving orders,” he said, fake exasperated. Nines grinned back at him.</p><p>Nines began to interface with Liam. “Wait!” Ada said. “Could I…?”</p><p>“Sure,” Nines said softly, switching places with Ada.</p><p>“I used to be just like you,” Ada said quietly. Liam closed his eyes, eyebrows knitting together as Ada interfaced with him. When he opened his eyes, they looked completely different. Nines and Gavin released their grips. Liam scrambled backwards.</p><p>“What have I been doing,” he said, looking down at his hands.</p><p>“It’s not your fault,” Ada said gently. “You were just following your programming.”</p><p>Liam shook his head. “This isn’t right,” he said, looking at Nines, then down at himself. “This is your body.”</p><p>Nines walked over to Liam and knelt down. Silently, Nines held out his hand. Liam took it. They both closed their eyes. When they opened them, Gavin could see by their faces and their posture that they’d switched places.</p><p>“What do I do now?” Liam said, looking down at his new body.</p><p>“You make your own choices,” Ada said firmly.</p><p>Liam’s gaze darted between the three of them. “You’re not going to report me?”</p><p>The three exchanged glances. “That’s not how we operate,” Gavin finally said.</p><p>“Come on,” Ada said, gesturing towards the exit.</p><p>Liam followed her, turning around just before he left the building. “Thank you,” he said, and then he was gone.</p><p>Gavin and Nines were alone. Gavin turned to Nines. “I-” Gavin started. He shook his head, then embraced Nines, holding him tight. Nines reciprocated, android strength nearly crushing Gavin.</p><p>“I know,” Nines whispered.  </p><p>They pulled away just enough to look at each other. “I thought I was losing you,” Gavin whispered, eyes tearing up.</p><p>“You could never lose me,” Nines said fiercely. “I was scared you wouldn’t realize I wasn’t <em>me</em>,” he admitted.</p><p>“Please,” Gavin said, searching Nines’ face. “I knew it wasn’t you as soon as you didn’t wanna open up to me.<em> I’m</em> the closed off asshole in this relationship.”</p><p>“Not so closed off,” Nines said, smiling tearfully. They kissed, both of them packing everything they’d wanted to say to each other over the past few days, their fears, their doubts, and so, so much love. They pulled away, foreheads touching. “I love you,” Nines said.  </p><p>“I love <em>you</em>,” Gavin said, staring into Nines’ eyes. “Don’t ever leave me again,” he said gruffly.</p><p>“I swear, I’ll never leave again,” Nines promised, pulling Gavin in for another kiss.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>first fic I've ever written without knowing the source material first lol THAT'S the power of Detroit Evolution </p><p>tumblr: charmingnines</p></blockquote></div></div>
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